Sort by
Listing Movies
Display Movies
Flubber (1997)
Catch it if you can!
Filmmaker(s): Les Mayfield

Professor Phillip Brainard, an absent minded professor, works with his assistant Weebo, trying to create a substance that's a new source of energy and that will save Medfield College where his sweetheart Sara is the president. He has missed his wedding twice, and on the afternoon of his third wedding, Professor Brainard creates flubber, which allows objects to fly through the air.

Cinematic Inner Minds 17 years on. Not a bad time to evaluate a film for merit. Supposing it doesn‘t work — this one doesn‘t — we have a chance to reflect on its place in history. Yes we have the beloved Robin Williams in his...
Published February 4, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
Little Arms With Big Attitude
Filmmaker(s): Peter Sohn

An epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend.

Background as Foreground I follow certain filmmakers in a way unlike any other relationship. If they have worked well for me at least once, they become a permanent part of my life, not friends or family because I give nothing back. When they try and...
Published February 4, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
They come in pieces.
Filmmaker(s): Mike Mitchell

It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

Eggo The concept is gone. We are in a golden age of concept folding and our experimental loft is popular film. When the filmmakers hit a sweet spot and adventure in self reference is carried in a hit movie, the whole society becomes more cognitively...
Published February 3, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Alice in Wonderland (1999)
A Masterpiece of Imagination...
Filmmaker(s): Nick Willing

Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole into a whimsical Wonderland, where she meets characters like the delightful Cheshire Cat, the clumsy White Knight, a rude caterpillar, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts and can grow ten feet tall or shrink to three inches. But will she ever be able to return home?

Veronica Boff The ‘Alice’ stories are several things at once: a remarkable fantasy, a collection of intriguing jokes and puzzles, a Bulwer-Lytton influenced cabalistic journey, and off-hand satire. It is deep no matter what direction you plumb, and that’s the magic of it. But most...
Published January 21, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Harriet the Spy (1996)
On your case!
Filmmaker(s): Bronwen Hughes

When the secret notebook of a young girl who fancies herself a spy is found by her friends, her speculations make her very unpopular! Can she win her friends back?

Is About Itself This little film has been roundly criticised for being disjointed and amateurish. Well, it is disjointed: part of it is surreal allegory, part realistic morality play. Part of it moves with a natural rhythm while other parts seem to have been transplanted...
Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Mystery...has met its match
Filmmaker(s): Katt Shea

Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community

Embraced Balusters I’ve watched this version and the one with the same title from the thirties back to back. Originally it was in the service of my history of mysteries, but neither qualify. Only this one is worthy of comment, because of the apparent excellence...
Published January 18, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Filmmaker(s): Chiwetel Ejiofor

Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.

Stealing Energy This is well enough made to hide its nature, what we used to call Hallmark movies. These are films that tell a story without irony, narrative elaboration or recognition of its cinematic conveyance. The closer to reality and the fewer theatrics the better....
Published January 18, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
The Magician’s Elephant (2023)
Dare to believe
Filmmaker(s): Wendy Rogers

Peter is searching for his long-lost sister when he crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square. His only question is: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.

Layers Any children’s movie runs the risk of easily being reducible to a ‘message’, often mistakenly called a moral. I’ve already read a few reviews of this that mention the film’s message, and how wonderfully it is presented. I suppose if that is how you...
Published December 2, 2023
| Categorised as New Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Moana (2016)
The ocean is calling.
Filmmaker(s): Ron Clements, John Musker

In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right.

Disney within Disney I was expecting a standard, manufactured Disney Princess item. What I encountered was a powerful embodiment of myth in a young woman, with the notable exceptions of the coconut pirate and glittery crab sequences. These were conceived and directed by others. I...
Published November 19, 2023
| Categorised as Fours, IMDB Comments |
Tagged: , ,
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear overalls.

While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.

Winning I shudder with the knowledge that in a few days, this grossed higher than any Pixar movie. Imagineer that. This about as charmless as it gets without the floor falling off, so I can only attribute the success to love of the character. As...
Published September 11, 2023
| Categorised as New Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
preloader image